Players give Ridgewood rave reviews

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PARAMUS, N.J. – Even though it’s only part of a rotation of host courses for the annual Barclays event, Ridgewood Country Club is drawing high praise from some of the game’s best players in the days leading up to this week’s tournament.

“It's a great golf course,” said Rory McIlroy, who enters this week atop the FedEx Cup points list. “It's a great collection of par 3s; the par 3s on this golf course are very strong. A couple of really tough par 4s where usually they would be par 5s for the members and you've converted them into par 4s and the greens, they are par 5 greens, so they are very small targets for such long holes and such long second shots.

“And obviously the rough is really thick. So there's a premium on putting your ball in the fairway but you have to be really accurate because the greens are pretty small, as well. It presents a great challenge.”

“It's a great golf course,” Jim Furyk said. “I think it's the best of the four we play. There's really no weak golf course in this rotation and obviously Bethpage hosting a couple U.S. Opens, and I think the PGA to be and is a wonderful golf course in its own right. But this is my favorite of the bunch.”

“Ridgewood is sensational,” added Phil Mickelson. “Tee to green it's such a spectacular test of golf. The greens have such great views and undulations and contours, making it challenging to get the ball close to the hole, but a very fair test and I think all the players really love Ridgewood. They love all the courses we play here, but they really love Ridgewood. It's in the best shape it's ever been.”